Slow Cooker Help! Irish Stew Recipe...

sweettirana

Hi All,

I have just bought a slow cooker and want to try something easy today to start with!

Now I have a recipe ....

Serves 4-6 (plus normally left overs!)

• 1/2 bag of floury potatoes (such as King Edward or Maris Piper potatoes)
• 3 medium or 2 large carrots
• 1 onion
• 800g mince (preferably beef)
• 1.5l beef stock (or enough to cover ingredients)
• dried thyme and black pepper to taste

Peel and chop potatoes (not too small or else they well disintegrate), peel and slice carrots, chop onion finely, and place all ingredients in saucepan (I normally use an 8 litre pan but any large saucepan will do - or split between 2 average sized pans).

Fry mince (in its own juices) and drain off fat.
Place mince on top of vegetables in saucepan, add black pepper and herbs and cover all ingredients with hot stock. Put pan on a medium-high heat. Bring to the boil, stirring ingredients well.

Reduce heat so ingredients are simmering.
Let stew simmer for approximately 1 hour, checking occasionally to make sure ingredients are just covered with stock (add more if necessary).

Suitable for freezing.

Variations: For a more traditional Irish stew, use chunks of lamb instead of the mince (neck or lamb chops work well). Cook for 1.5-2 hours on a low heat.

Slow cooker method: Add all ingredients to the slow cooker. Add just enough stock to cover the meat. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Thicken stock with some gravy powder/granules if needed.








What I want to know is.... do I have to cook the mince or any of the other ingredients first?? The veg that I am using is frozen as well.... I know this sounds like a really daft question but I have absolutely no idea!



Thank you! :beer:

angeltreats

No need to brown the mince first, unless you want to. (Personally I would soften the onion first in a bit of butter, then brown the mince before throwing it all in the slow cooker, but that's just me and you really don't have to.)

I wouldn't put frozen veg in a slow cooker though. Veg can take longer to cook than meat in a slow cooker, so you might find that your veg is still a bit hard by the end of the cooking time if it's frozen when it goes in.

adelight

Are the potatoes frozen? I'd put them in the microwave with a drop of water to defrost them first. I had no idea you could do irish stew with beef mince! I've only ever had it with chunks of lamb so that's a recipe to try.

mon1o

i brown my mince and then saute off my frozen veg in the same pan - not so its cooked but just so its softened slightly. I find it turns out no different to fresh veg in my sc but then my sc is always on for 8hrs or more anyway so it has plenty of time. I make sure the veg is at the bottom of the pot as well.

Monica

zippychick

Hi

personally i would brown it - i would cook it like you would in a pot, bring it to the boil, then put it in the SC to simmer and develop flavours. Each person does it a different way. As far as I understand, not browning it means it can be greasy and the meat a less attractive colour .

I see your post was hours ago - what did you go with?:)

Previous discussion may also help

Browning meat (slow cooker specific)

Mince beef in Slow cooker - do I need to brown first?

I'll merge this with the first link later
thanks
Zip

Pink.

Hi sweettirana,

I always brown meat before adding it to the slow cooker, but that's personal choice, I don't think it's absolutely necessary and won't always suit people to do this if they're rushing out to work in the morning.

This thread has more opinions:

slow cooker question browning meat

I'll add your thread to it later to keep the replies together.

Pink

bluebag

I make this regularly in my slow cooker, just cut the onions very fine and defrost the veg then chuck it all in. I usually add a couple of teaspoons of flour, just toss it in with the mince and shush it around a bit, makes sure ithe stew is nice and thick.

I usually use a large carrot to 500g of mince as I find too much carrot makes it a bit sweet. You can add some orange lentils in too, makes it go a bit further and good for fibre and protein.

I serve it with great doorsteps of bread, any left over gets a pastry crust on the next day for stew pie with a bit of instant gravy and mash plus extra veg on the side.
It's yum.

sweettirana

Thanks everyone!

In the end I decided to put some stewing beef in instead and I quickly browned it in some hot oil... it turned out delicious!

My only complaint is that as I am new to all this, I didn't make very much as I didn't want to end up throwing a load of food away!

Been back in the kitchen today to make a bigger one!!

I think I put a bit too much stock cube in it yesterday (I had put a tablespoon of pearl barley in at the beginning to try and thicken it - is that enough?) but put some beef gravy granules in nearer the end and that worked a bit Will try a bit of flour if the same happens today!

I'm so pleased with myself, I have never cooked before (unless you count heating something in an oven and adding to it a tin of beans that was heated in the microwave!! :rotfl:) This cooking thing is fun!

Thanks everyone for all of your tips - even cutting up a bit of meat is daunting for me, but there is a first for everything

Pretani

sweettirana wrote: »

Thanks everyone!

In the end I decided to put some stewing beef in instead and I quickly browned it in some hot oil... it turned out delicious!

My only complaint is that as I am new to all this, I didn't make very much as I didn't want to end up throwing a load of food away!

Been back in the kitchen today to make a bigger one!!

Stewing steak is the proper way to make it, not mince or lamb. Lamb makes scotch broth.!

I think I put a bit too much stock cube in it yesterday (I had put a tablespoon of pearl barley in at the beginning to try and thicken it - is that enough?) but put some beef gravy granules in nearer the end and that worked a bit Will try a bit of flour if the same happens today!

You don't put barley, flour or gravey granules into Irish stew. The only thing that thickens the stew is the flourey potatoes., preferrably British Queens. You have to judge how much liquid-potatoe you need. That's the only trickey part to the dish.